ETHAN ROOS

I create illustrations and interactive experiences designed to be engaging, tactile, and inclusive. I have a diverse background covering education technology, scientific illustration, user experience/interface design, and data visualisation, but what runs through all is the desire to make knowledge accessible and beautiful through visual storytelling. My personal work (shown below) revolves heavily around my love of nature and my desire to connect others with its mysteries and small joys before too much is lost.

CK-12 is a non-profit based in Silicon Valley which specialises in creating interactive digital content for k-12 students studying STEM subjects around the world, with partners including Google and Unicef. When I started CK-12 was looking to revitalise its interactive science content, specifically the smaller scale “PLIX”es, which had an outdated style compared with the rest of the site. These all required custom development, which had led to a tenfold deficit in science interactives when compared to math. Additionally, CK-12 wanted to simplify its products by pulling PLIX style content into its science lessons for a smoother user experience.

As CK-12's first dedicated Science Interactive Designer & Illustrator I built a design system for new, integrated, and accessible science interactives. This created a clean UI kit consistent with the current CK-12 brand, and also created 10 unique yet highly flexible standard templates for interactives to streamline content creation and development. I worked closely with curriculum experts to design these as well as a number of special case interactives, using my own science background to produce more specialised learning experiences. In total I designed 80+ interactives. Additionally, I created a bright and playful vector-based illustration style, producing scaleable mobile friendly assets with javascript accessible text and symbols for easy globalisation.